Freshwater natural Lake Zrebar, also known as Zeribar or Zrewar, in Marivan county, Kurdistan province, in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains in western Iran attracts thousands of tourists every year.
The border town of Marivan, where Zrebar is, is located 125 kilometers northwest of Sanandaj, the capital city of western Iranian province of Kurdistan few kilometers from the border with Iraqi Kurdistan. Putting aside Zrebar, Marivan is famous for other beauties, for example its beautiful nature and dense forests, the important border crossing of Bashmagh and some other beautiful tourist destinations such as step ladder stone village of Uraman Takht. It is no surprise that Marivan has become an attractive destination for both domestic and foreign tourists.
Zrebar is located just three km after you pass the city of Marivan, heading toward the important Bashmaq border crossing with Iraqi Kurdistan.
Zrebar is located at an altitude of 1,000 and 285 meters above sea level, with a maximum length of 5 km and a maximum width of 1.5 km. The volume of water is about 30 million cubic meters, and its average depth is 3 meters, reaching up to 8 meters in some places.
The lake area varies depending the season, but the best climate to visit is between march to June, when the surrounding green area reaches to its best ambience.
One of the unique characteristics of Zrebar is that no river flows into it while a quite big river flows from it. The water of the lake is sweet and springs from the numerous springs below the surface of the lake.
The lake is said to be the biggest and most beautiful freshwater lake in Iran and even in the Middle East region. Often foreign and domestic tourists are astonished by the beauty of the Marivan and Zrebar’s nature.
There is a myth about how the lake was created among the Kurdish people of the area. Once upon a time, as local people say, there used be a city in the place of the lake, but one day a stranger arrives to visit it but after he was mistreated and witnessed a lot of injustice and corruption on the part of the inhabitants, he prayed to God to turn the city into a lake. There is grave on the eastern side of the lake which people believe that belongs to that man. People of the region suggest that there is still quite a big treasure at the bottom of the wetland from that far past era.
There are many shops around the lake, selling gifts, folk dishes such as ‘Kalaneh’, and delicious barbequed fish caught from the lake, which is highly recommend by the visitors. There are also quite good restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops in the area, and some hotels and villas at reasonable prices next to lake.
Therefore, there is quite appropriate facility to relax along the shores of this big natural lake. The peaceful and quiet environment with fantastic weather and amazing scenery, help you relax and enjoy yourselves. The lake is surrounded by nice villages with their hospitable people.
It is a very gorgeous and relaxing place for nature lovers. The part of it which is near the city is quite crowded, especially during Nowruz, thus if you want to find quiet places you must go around the lake.
Make sure to try rafting using pedal or motor boats in the pristine water of the gigantic lake. You can enjoy pedal boat up to 6-person size and even spice it up to speed boats which gives you a tour around 10 minutes for 350,000 Rials and full tour of the lake 1,500,000 Rials, as a visitor to the lake has posted on “tripadvisor” website about the lake.
The lake usually attracts visitors in all four seasons but some people prefer spring and autumn over summer and winter. During some winters, the whole lake surface freezes which adds very much to its beauty.
Last year in May, there was an international fishing festival at Zrebar with the participation of around 300 contestant from across Iran and countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the Netherlands, Argentina, Austria, Colombia and Ireland, France and Iraq. All the participants were wearing Kurdish cloths.
Few years ago in 2014, there was also a paragliding contest over the lake from the mountains around, where you have a great view of the lake too. The activity is still available for the public.
As a visitor puts it, the lake and surrounding mountains are especially interesting for birdwatchers, because of all the typical fresh water lake species such as Little Bittern, Great Reed Warbler and the species of freshwater terns.
Many bird species in their nests can be spotted while boating or fishing in vast reed beds of the lake, while wild animals such as pigs can approach you with causing any harm.
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